At the Berkshire Museum, Nature Seen Anew

Sarah Todd reports from Pittsfield.
A heart cockle shell the size of a skyscraper. A desert sunrise dividing a sand dune into even slopes of light and dark. At the Berkshire Museum’s opening reception on Saturday, February 9 for exhibits by Ansel Adams and Andreas Feininger, striking, Modernist nature photography carried the day. In the room devoted to Feininger’s portraits of anglerfish teeth, carpenter ant carvings, and conch shells, curator Maria Mingalone (left, with mother Edie Mingalone) explained how the LIFE photographer played with close-ups and scale to reveal the detailed beauty of natural objects. “He makes seashells monumental,” she said. Next door, Adams’ dramatic photographs of Yosemite National Park, Sonoma Valley, Arizona’s Monument Valley, and other western wonders offered a welcome antidote to the piles of snow lurking just outside the Museum’s doors. In the reception hall, there were more provisions to help ward off winter chills: guests huddled around a crackling fireplace, grazed on cheese and olives, and warmed up with free cups of wine.